Recently my patience has been tested by the inconsiderate. So I close my eyes & count to ten. I let the emotions pass through me & then I let them go. I don’t hold grudges. They’re too heavy. Hate is too great a burden to bear. “The other guy” can keep the negativity. I’ll keep living love. And speaking of love… I broke out our new griddle Sunday morning & whipped up a batch of delicious pancakes topped with syrup & raspberries. So yummy. Flap jacks & April sunshine, love all around!

There are some life lessons that I’ve just got to keep learning over & over & over again. Like, for example, that worrying will never do me any good. It’s useless. What is meant to be will be.

Sometimes we just need a long, sweet Saturday to remind us that all of the worry in the world will not change the end result. This afternoon Matthew came in with armfuls of the sweetest smelling lilacs―the loveliest gift a gal could hope for. And in that moment, all of the worries in my little world melted right away. Lilacs & my handsome guy will get me every time.

The Archipelago Of Kisses | Jeffrey McDaniel

We live in a modern society. Husbands and wives don’t
grow on trees, like in the old days. So where
does one find love? When you’re sixteen it’s easy,
like being unleashed with a credit card
in a department store of kisses. There’s the first kiss.
The sloppy kiss. The peck.
The sympathy kiss. The backseat smooch. The we
shouldn’t be doing this kiss. The but your lips
taste so good kiss. The bury me in an avalanche of tingles kiss.
The I wish you’d quit smoking kiss.
The I accept your apology, but you make me really mad
sometimes kiss. The I know
your tongue like the back of my hand kiss. As you get
older, kisses become scarce. You’ll be driving
home and see a damaged kiss on the side of the road,
with its purple thumb out. If you
were younger, you’d pull over, slide open the mouth’s
red door just to see how it fits. Oh where
does one find love? If you rub two glances, you get a smile.
Rub two smiles, you get a warm feeling.
Rub two warm feelings and presto-you have a kiss.
Now what? Don’t invite the kiss over
and answer the door in your underwear. It’ll get suspicious
and stare at your toes. Don’t water the kiss with whiskey.
It’ll turn bright pink and explode into a thousand luscious splinters,
but in the morning it’ll be ashamed and sneak out of
your body without saying good-bye,
and you’ll remember that kiss forever by all the little cuts it left
on the inside of your mouth. You must
nurture the kiss. Turn out the lights. Notice how it
illuminates the room. Hold it to your chest
and wonder if the sand inside hourglasses comes from a
special beach. Place it on the tongue’s pillow,
then look up the first recorded kiss in an encyclopedia: beneath
a Babylonian olive tree in 1200 B.C.
But one kiss levitates above all the others. The
intersection of function and desire. The I do kiss.
The I’ll love you through a brick wall kiss.
Even when I’m dead, I’ll swim through the Earth,
like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.

Today was my bridal shower. It was magical & reminded me how very much I am loved. Generosity, good food, surrounded by the women that I love the most in this world. My oh my. It gets better & better. I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

I have a secret. My stomach is full of butterflies this morning. Tomorrow is my bridal shower & I’m a little bit nervous. I haven’t had so much as a birthday party in almost twenty years. I have no problem getting up in front of a hundred people to give a motivational talk, but the thought of opening gifts & wearing silly bows on my head & playing shower games… I’m a little dizzy just thinking about it!

I’m distracting myself this morning by making peppers & eggs for my love. Hope you have a gorgeous Saturday.

Life has been a little bit of a whirlwind lately. Wedding planning. Starting a new job. Stumbling upon challenge after challenge. Sometimes I feel dizzy-sick with it. Full up. Ready to give up.

Then comes a magic moment. A peaceful ride home. Sunset rays lighting up the dandelions in our front yard. A big hug from the man that I love. And I remember just how beautiful it all is. Just how lucky I am.

Sometimes the greatest joys in my life are also the most simple. Like a lazy, spring Saturday and an easy lunch. Yellow bell pepper & avocado salad with minute rice & a can of lentil soup. Stir in a few kisses. Eat it with the one you love. A little piece of heaven on earth, if you ask me.

On Saturday, I had the most wonderful visit with my dear friend, Andrew Caldwell. AC recently took off from Perth, Western Australia on a round the world trip through America, Turkey, and India. (Follow his adventures here!)

On Saturday we met up at Port Authority and made our way over to Cafe Duke for smoothies and cappuccino. Excellent conversation & a nice view for people watching—but the smoothie & the service were nothing to write home about. After awhile we got hungry and headed into Chinatown for lunch. We ate at a favourite Dim Sum place—Vegetarian Dim Sum House @ 24 Pell St. (NY, NY). I highly recommend it although you do have to be careful with dim sum, while most of the dishes were delicious, a couple resembled slime more than food. Chalk that up to my own lack of dim sum knowledge. (Sorry, AC!)

After lunch we wandered through Little Italy. Ferrara Bakery had a line out the door as usual, so we settled for her much quieter little sister next door—Bella Ferrara.

Our last stop of the day was T.B.D in Brooklyn for a mutual friend’s birthday party. We decided to brave it and walked across the Manhattan Bridge which runs parallel to the Brooklyn. It was cold and windy, but made for a couple of lovely photographs. T.B.D. was a chill place, nice vibe, reasonably priced drinks, and comfy couches.

Awesome day with an amazing friend that I will not soon forget.

Hope you had a great weekend where ever you are. Happy Monday & welcome April!

xo,
Dena